Apparatus for cooking corn and other food products.



H. G. BAXTER. APPARATUS FOR COOKING CORN AND OTHER FOOD PRODUCTS.

APPLIOATIONIILED FEB. 21, 1907.

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HARTLEY C. BAX'IER, OF.BRUNSWICK, MAINE.

APPARATUS FOR COOKING CORN AND OTHER FOOD PRODUCTS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARTLEY C. BAXTER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and resident of Brunswick, county of Cumberland, State ofMaine, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatusfor Cookin Corn and other Food Products, of which the following is aspecification.

My" invention relates particularly to an apparatus for canning corn, butit is also adapted to canning other "food products of a' similar naturesuch as soups, pumpkin, otted meats or any food products which are iquidor semi-liquid in consistency or which are in a finely. dividedcondition.

In the canning of corn as now commonly practiced, the corn is first cutfrom the ear, screened to remove the silk and particles of cob, mixedwith a proportion of water to reduce the consistency of the mass andthen passed through a so called cooker, which is a drum containing anagitator by which the corn is stirred and fed. from the inlet to theoutlet where it is discharged through a filling nozzle into the cans.The agitator is made hollow and. steam is passed through it anddischarged into the mass of corn as it is fed through. The steamdischarging into the mass of cold corn and in a drum which is not steamtight but which is provided with an open hopper, is immediatelycondensed so that the temperature of the corn is not raised above 180 or190 degrees, and cannot possibly be raised above .-the boilin point (212degrees). Corn cannot be en ciently cooked by the above apparatus sothat the germs of fermentation will be killed. Because of the factthatthe germs in corn and some other vegetables cannot be destroyed at orbelow the boiling point within a reasonable time, the heating as abovedescribedis always preliminary to a subsequent sterilizing treatment .bywhich the cans after being filled and sealed are subjected to a degreeof heat-considerably higher than the boiling point. In this manner theentire contents of the can are sterilized and without this subsequentheating of the cans the corn would soon spoil.

In the operation of sterilizing or re-. torting the cans after beingfilled and sealed are placed in trays and stacked in asteam tight retortafter which steam under pressure is admitted for about one hour andSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed February 21, 1907. Serial No. 358,621.

Patented May 31, 1910.

the cans are then removed and cooled. The pressure of the steam issufficient to produce a temperature of 250 degrees this high temperaturebeing necessary to kill the germs found in the corn. During thesterilizing operation the heat penetrates slowly to the interior of thebody of corn and the outer layers become overheated and often become dryand hard and by reason of this liability to overheat it has always beenneces sary toadd considerable quantities of water to the corn and toreduce it to the consistency of a semiliquid mass.

The process as above described requires comparatively long time and thequality of the resulting product is inferior for the reasons abovestated.

According to my invention, I use an apparatus of the general type thatdescribed except that I connect the cooling. chamber with the outlet ofthe sterilizing chamber by means of an open passage through which thecorn is forced by the steam pressure in the sterilizing chamber. Thisconstruction allows me to keep. the cooling chamber filled at'all timesindependently of the use of any pump with a body of corn alwaysinterposed between the cooling chamber and the outlet of the sterilizingchamber. In this way the live steam is excluded from the cooling chamberand does not come in contact with its cold walls except as itmaybecarried in the body of the corn as the latter asses slowly through. Ithus greatly simplify the construction of'the' apparatus, do away withcertain working alongijtu inal section of an apparatus con f struct fitlaccording to my invention.

Theftcorn is sterilized by passing. it through a steam tight sterilizingchamber char d with steam under a pressure suflicient to kill the germsin the corn. ,As here show I make use of an elongated cylinder nontaflydisposed and containing a screwrconveyer- B adapted to agitate the cornand to separate the particles, moving them in a' continuous stream fromthe inlet to the outlet.

. The corn is fed in at the inlet and through along.

a suitable trap which does notallow the escape of the internal steampressure in the cylinder. As here shown I provide a hopper a forreceiving the corn, and a revolving valve 7. held in a suitable casing 6connecting with the inlet duct 6'. The valve b is provided with alurality of pockets which receive the corn rom the outlet of the hop perand discharge it into the duct 5 whence it passes into the cylinderwithout allowing the escape of any steam. A steam pipe 0 is provided forintroducing steam under a pressure. (preferably about 15 lbs.) into thecylinder and a return steam pipe 0 leads from the end of the cylinder tothe hopper through which a small quantity of steam may be allowed toescape to create a steam circulation.

Means are provided for cooling the corn below the boiling point beforeintroducing it. into the cans, to prevent ebullition in the cans. 1* orthis purpose I provide a cooling chamber c at the outlet end of thecylinder, surrounded by a water jacket g, having a water inlet g andwater outlet gt This cooling chamber is shown as an inclined pipe ofconsiderable length having a filling nozzle 0 at its lower end and avalve f for controlling the discharge of corn from the nozzle.

The sterilized cans z are fed under the nozzle in any suitable mannerand suitable means are provided for maintaining sterilizing atmosphereabout the filling nozzle and for sterilizing the cans themselves be;fore they come to the nozzle. This may be done by filling them withsuperheated steam by means of a'suitable valve controlled nozzle hconnecting with the steam pipe 0, as

they come up to the filling nozzle.

The corn is fed into the sterilizing chamber in such a, quantity thatthe chamber will be only partially filled, the conveyer carrying it in acomparatively small stream through the chamber. The kernels of corn arethus thoroughly stirred and allowed to come in contact with thesterilizing medium and thus to become completely sterilized.-

As the corn reaches the outlet it drops down into the cooling chambergradually filling it col'nplctcly full and forming a solid mass of cornbetween the outlet of the sterilizing chamber and the interior of thecooling chan'il 01. This mass of material holds back theslcam. fromentering the cooling chamher and coming in contact with its cooledsurfaces except so far as the steam is en trapped in the body of corn asit moves The steam within the sterilizing chamber acting on theinterposed mass of material at the entrance of the sterilizing chamberalso creates a pr'essure'on the corn tending to force it through thecooling chamber and out at the filling. nozzle. Thus the same internalpressure is maintained inlet to the filling iiozzle. In operating theapparatus care is taken not to draw oft the corn at the filling nozzleany faster than it is fed in at the inlet so that there will always hemaintained a mass of corn at. the inlet of the cooling chamber and thelive steam will be excluded from contact with the cooled interior wallsof the cooling chamber. All the juices and flavor of the corn will beretained as the greater bulk of the steam condenses and goes out withthe corn,- and steam which is allowed to escape in order to insurecirculation in the cylinder is 1 put back into the corn in the hopper orelsewhere as hereinbefore described. Corn treated in this manner beingthoroughl sterilized, will keep for an indefinite lengti of time, itrequires little or no subsequent cooking, it retains all the naturalflavor and the process can be carried out with a great saving of timeover the old way of canning. My a paratus will also do away with the use0 much of the machinery employed in the usual method of canning corn,peas, and other vegetables, the particles of'wbich are small and in suchcondition that they canbe exposed to the direct action of steam underpressure. Its use will also cause a great *saving in labor and producegoods of much better quality. It will be practicable with my apparatusto till the cans with pure corn. unmixed with water, sugar, or any othersubstances, as the particles of corn are exposed for a short time onlyto'the extrenm heat necessary to sterilize them, and the mass of corndoes not have to be thinned down or diluted with water. It will beunderstood that in using the term can, I intend to include any suitablereceptacle.

It is evident that steam under pressure may be obtained within thesterilizing chamber otherwise than as here shown. fl-fi for instance, byheating the chamber externally or forcing in heated air and variousmodifications may be .made in the several parts of my apparatus withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention. The crawling chamber forinstance may be formed otherwise than as herein shown but it must. be offull from the inlet to the outlet.

I claim 1. In a. machine for preparing green corn and other like foodproducts, the combination of a sterilizing chamber having an inlet andan outlet, and adapted to maintain an internal steam pressure, means forsupplying steam under pressure' to said sterilizing chamber, a totalingdevice for introducing internal pressure, moans 'li(.)l"!- llll'lll,2'and conveying the corn trom the inletto the outlet, and a steam tightcooling chamber connected with said outl t by an open pasthrougliout theentire apparatus from the.

corn into the sterilizing chamlwr against the Ion lU i

such shape that it will be kept subs .ant-lull sage whereby the steampressure is permitto the outlet, a steam tight cooling chamber te to andthe passage oi the corn through connected with said outlet by an openpas- 15 the cooling chamber. sage-whereby the steam pressure ispermitted 2. In a machine for preparing green corn to aid the passage ofthe corn through the and other like food products, the combinacoolingchamber and means for controlling tion of a ster'lizing chamber havingan the outlet of said cooling chamber. inlet and an-outlet, and adaptedto main- Signed by me at.Portland, Maine, this 20 tain an internal steampressure, means for 18th day of February, 1907. supplying steam underpressure to said ster- IMRTLEY O BAXTER ilizing chamber, a feedingdevice for intro (lacing corn into the sterilizing chamber \Vitnesses:against the internal pressure, means for stir- S. W. BATES,

ring and conveying the corn from the inlet ELEANOR W. DENNIS.

